In my opinion, the two most damaging aspects of this game are the map sizes and the spawn system.

Maps

From COD 4 to Black Ops (1), the maps had an arena feel to them. Sure there were buildings and the occasion containers/blown up buses you could take cover in, but the maps were designed to be arenas. What this created was competitive gameplay, where there were some close quarter encounters and a 'no man's land' with some cover.

This allowed players to adopt a variety of tactics: you could run and gun with shotguns and smgs but sticking to the periphery of the map; you could chose to snipe, allowing you to pick off anybody lingering too much in the 'no man's land', but almost useless in close quarters; you could be a versatile assault rifle/ lmg gunner, operating at mid-range but disadvantaged at close q combat and in an open space battle with a sniper.

The spawn system in COD 4, MW2, W@W and BO (post patch) all catered to the 'arena' based gameplay that made the call of duty franchise a super power. The enemies spawned away from each other, which allowed both teams to adjust their strategies and approach the battle the way they see fit.

The rule of thumb was that if your team mates were all around one side of the map, the enemies were on the other. Even though this was the case, one was still aware of potential flanking players.

Call of Duty Ghost appears to have gone against these proven 'rules', and has delivered a mediocre experience. An experience worthy of igniting the demise of the franchise.

I respect your view but fail to see the "arena" gameplay your referring to. And how CoD4 to BO had that, but BO2 and Ghosts doesn't? There is no question the maps are bigger and at times M.C. Esherish. But I embrace the difference. They have a CoD4 feel when urban, and a WaW feel when rural.

As far as spawns, I truly don't see any difference from any other CoD. Don't get me wrong, Ghosts spawns are still screwy on some maps, but no more screwy than seeing players spawn in front of my face in all the other titles.

Through many of the threads I've read, I sometimes think the players perspectives and memories are changing more than the game at times.

Great post man! Sadly, a lot of people don't seem to get the "arena" map concept....IN CASE ANYONE DOES NOT KNOW an ARENA MAP layout puts team vs team on clearly defined sides of the field with passages and lines of sight weaving between the main lines of fire. These maps are the exception in IW games, and the rule in Treyarch games.